


bonded for life

by the_forgotten_daydreamer



Series: Voltron: Legendary Defender [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura's still dead, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood, Blood and Injury, But hey Lance doesn't have Altean marks in this, Car Accidents, Concerned Friends, Drunk Driving, Friendship, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hospitalization, Injured Lance (Voltron), Injury, Keith x Lance - Freeform, Kissing, Lance Gets a Concussion, Langst, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Medical Procedures, Near Death Experiences, Needles, Pain, Post S8, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sort Of, Team Voltron's the best, Vomiting, don't drink and drive!, klance, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-10-28 22:17:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20785943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_forgotten_daydreamer/pseuds/the_forgotten_daydreamer
Summary: Keith wants to propose to Lance. Lance wants to propose to Keith. How convenient! Or... Not?Proposals don't always go as planned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a couple of weeks now, and I had to write it down.  
Enjoy...  
-  
I do not own VLD nor its characters

_ (KEITH’S POV) _

It was roughly seven in the morning, when Keith, already dressed up, took the cubic object out of the socks drawer, and hid it in his pocket. 

The birds outside where already singing, flying in the sizzling spring breeze; the pale sunlight gently penetrated the window, half open, making the room bright and fresh.

_ Alright Kogane, you fought aliens, got eaten by a space monster, and more... This is super easy… You can do this... _

Keith took a deep breath, trying to find the confidence he’d suddenly lost.

Fiddling with his shirt, and slowly turning around, he locked his purple eyes to the ones in front of him.

_ Today’s the day… _

“Lance, I need to tell you something,” he started, swallowing the lump in his throat, 

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while… We’ve known each other for almost five years. And I know we haven’t always been in good terms, but from the moment I set my eyes on yours, I knew that we were destined to be together,” the 23 year-old breathed out, “we’ve only been dating for three months after what happened in space and our temporary break-up, but I can’t wait any longer to do this...”.

Keith slowly lowered himself, placing one knee on the carpeted floor, and removing a small, black box from his pants’ pocket; his eyes were low, and shone with happy tears,

“Lance McClain, you’re the man who showed me that everything is possible, when you find the courage to overcome your insecurities, and now, following your example, I want to prove you right… So...” his throat constricted, “Will you marry me?”.

Keith stayed there for some instants, before exhaling the air he didn’t know he was holding in his lungs. He finally looked up, 

“So… Any thoughs?”.

Kosmo, that was quietly sitting in front of him, yawned, looking at his owner with content eyes.

Keith stood up and stretched, “Damn it, I’ve been planning this for weeks and now I feel like I’m not ready!” he yelled, throwing himself on the bad, and being joined by his giant space-wolf, looking for cuddles.

It had been a year since they all came back from the last mission, and Keith decided that working for the Blade fulltime wasn’t the best for him. No, he had another dream.

Keith lazily picked his phone up, and stared at the screenlock, a photo of him and Lance, back when they were still in space.

They’d started dating four months before Shiro’s_ resurrection _\- how Lance called it- even if they didn’t think that the relationship would become something more serious.

They both knew that there was a high probability of them not coming back alive from the war, so they opted to just enjoy the moment of happiness while they were experiencing it.

So many times life had thretaened to tear them apart, and despite their original plans, each near-death experience brought them closer.

Once, Keith caught Lance crying, tearing his hair and screaming.

-

_ “Keith, this is so wrong!” _

_ “What’s going on, babe?” the Japanese boy asked alarmed, placing a warm hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. _

_ “You know what-” Lance jerked and yelled, gesturing at everything he had around, “this, this thing, this bond we have, it’s wrong!”. _

_ Keith’s expression softened, “Babe...” _

_ “Don’t call me that!” the Cuban boy screamed, curling himself up even more, “we’re at war, Keith, we’re murdering living beings just because they do not agree with us-” _

_ “Lance, they enslaved innocents… We’re fighting a dictatorship” _

_ “I know, I know, and- and I agree, trust me, but… There’s tons of… creatures, getting brutally killed, and we’re here, kissing and cuddling… It’s all wrong!” _

_ Lance was shaking at his point, panting heavily, blood-shot eyes staring at Keith’s. _

_ “We’re doing everything we can to help, Lance, we’re fighting actively against them, and eventually, we’ll win” Keith murmured, approaching the other boy and trying to look as non-threatening as he could. _

_ “Eventually!?” Lance sobbed, half crying, half laughing, “Keith, we’re going to die, don’t you get that? We are going to die. There’s no way we’re winning this war! We-” Lance coughed, throat hoarse, “we can’t win just because we have Voltron on our side, we can’t! We’re just humans… At least, I am”. _

_ Keith winced, “Please, let me-” _

_ “I don’t want to sound needy or weak, but let’s face the truth, Keith: you’re half Galra, Pidge and Hunk are geniuses and Allura’s an Altean princess with superpowers, but… But me? I’m just a bag of flesh with bones inside!” _

_ “You need to stop it now”. _

_ Keith was starting to raise his voice, he didn’t want to hear that again. _

_ “We’ve already talked about this, Lance, and you are a valuable member of Voltron too, you’re important for me and-” _

_ “Fuck that!”. Lance’s eyes widened as he said so, immediately muttering an apology. _

_ “I… I understand-” _

_ “No, Keith, that’s not what I meant… I just..,” Lance lowered himself to his knees, “I’ll be the first one to die… I’m… I’m basically bait… I won’t be able to help. One day, I’ll leave for a mission, and… And I’ll never have the chance to come back again… I’ll leave you all”. _

_ Keith shook his head firmly, “I won’t allow that”. _

_ As he said so, he left, leaving Lance with his thoughts. _

-

The Japanese man pinched the bridge of his nose at the memory, sighing.

They broke up after that, and only started dating again later on, about a month after Allura's death.

They’d come a long way after that, but they were finally, _ finally _okay.

Keith had a date with Lance later that evening: he’d booked a private room in a fancy restaurant, with the best chefs in town. He’d also ordered a ‘White Mariposa’ directly from Cuba, as it was Lance’s favourite plant. And, finally, the ring. 

Keith opened the box to look at it again: it was a shiny gold loop, finely inlaid with light blue Aquamarine. On the inside, there was a small inscription, _ “bonded for life”. _

Keith smirked, there was no way that Lance could forget this bonding moment too.

His phone buzzed. It was a call from Lance:

_ “Morning, mi amor” _ Lance chirped out,

“Hi babe, did you sleep well?”

_ “Yeah, but sleeping alone in a bed for two is kinda sad, y’know...” _

“Tell me about it... So… Excited for tonight?”

_ “What for?” _

Keith’s eyes widened, upset, 

“Lance-”

_ “I’m kidding, baby! 7pm at ‘La rosa blu’, right?” _

“You jerk, I thought you’d forgotten for real..,” Keith sighed, “by the way, yeah, that’s right. You sure you don’t want me to come pick you up?”

_ “Nah babe, don’t worry… I gotta go now, see you later and have fun!” _

“Bye babe, you too”

He heard Lance sending him a kiss, and he hung up.

Keith could do this, he knew he could.

_ Just go there, eat, propose and then fuck him hard, you’ve done it before! Except for the proposal part… But it’s the same thing, come on! _

Keith had never been more anxious, not even when he was about to die in space, or when… Okay, well, he was anxious when Lance was the one to almost perish, but that didn’t matter now.

The Japanese man fed Kosmo and then left his house, ready for a day of hard work.

-

When he came back, around 5.30pm, he immediately threw himself in the shower; he’d never washed so well- he swore- using every kind of conditioner he’d found and all the skin-softening soaps Lance had given him.

Anxiety started building, making his stomach upset, but he swallowed it down.

_ It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay… He’s gonna say yes and… And… What if he says no!? Shit! What if he says no! Oh God, oh God… _

Keith immediately called Shiro, putting him on speaker, as he also had other things to do. 

_ “Keith, bro, are you alright?” _

“Yes, I’m- I’m sorry to bother you Shiro, I just need to ask you something”

_ “Sure, what’s that?” _

Keith cursed under his breath; he’d sworn he wouldn’t tell anybody. He couldn’t just tell Shiro that he was going to propose to Lance… Shiro would’ve told Curtis, and Hunk, Pidge, Coran, everybody. 

_ Shit! _

_ “Keith, are you there?” _

“Yeah, sorry, I uh, I wanted to ask you if you could keep Kosmo tonight? I have a date and I’m going to Lance’s place later, but I can’t take Kosmo with me because- uh- Lance is allergic to dog’s fur”

_ “Since when-? He stayed with Kosmo for a year and he was f-” _

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck. _

“No sorry, I meant to say that Lance’s sister’s allergic to dog’s fur”

_ “Lance’s sister is going to be with you two during your date..?” _

“No! No, ugh, Shiro, just please keep Kosmo tonight?”

_ “...Alright kiddo, take him here around 6.30pm, okay?” _

“Perfect! Thanks Shiro, I owe you one”

_ “No problem, buddy, see you later” _

Keith hang up, and started brushing his hair.

_ Bun? Ponytail? Hair down? Braided? _

He glanced at the clock: it was almost 6pm and he still had to get decent hair, dress up, pack the dog food and the kennel and take those and Kosmo to Shiro’s, pick up the plant from the florist and go to the restaurant some minutes before Lance to make sure everything was ready.

_ Fuck, I’m late! _

Keith brushed his hair quickly, and opted for a low ponytail; even though he’d done it quickly, his hair was more than decent looking.

Keith put the face mask on, and while he waited, still in his underwear, packed Kosmo’s stuff.

He stepped out of his apartment to go put the things in the car- he didn’t want to wrinkle the clothes he had to put on for the night- when he realized that he didn’t even have pants on. He dashed to his room, put his pajamas back on and sprinted to the garage. He came back after a minute, panting.

“Kosmo, I left the doors open, so if you have to pee, do it now. Please don’t poop, I can’t come pick it up, wait till you’re at Shiro’s, alright boy?”

Kosmo barked, and ran out.

The man quickly washed the charcoal mask away and started to get dressed: black pants, white shirt, black suit and a red tie, with delicate and almost imperceptible embroided motives. 

Everything in linen, just like both Keith and Lance liked it.

Kosmo came back, wagging his tail happily, and ready to leave.

Before heading out, Keith looked one last time at his mental checklist. Dog stuff and dog? Check. Money for restaurant and florist? Check. Keys? Check. Good looks? Check.

Keith stepped out of the door, and closed it behind him, only to burst it open five seconds later,

“The ring, you idiot!” he told himself, outloud, and then left.

-

He dropped Kosmo at Shiro and Curtis’ place, who widely complimented him for his looks, then he picked the plant at the florist and gingerly secured it in the car,

_ I can’t take a broken plant to Lance, that’d be a bad start for the supposedly best night of my life so far… _

He quickly reached the restaurant, fifteen minutes before Lance’s established time of arrival. When Keith was sure that everything was in the right place, he sat at the table, and picked his phone up.

Lance hadn’t called him nor texted, so he waited.


	2. Chapter 2

_ (LANCE’S POV) _

Lance hadn’t slept at all that night, no matter how much camomile he drank or how much he worked out during the day to get tired on purpose. He just couldn’t close eye.

He got up around 5.30am, anxious to hear Keith’s voice one last time before their engagement. Provided that Keith would’ve said yes, of course.

_ everything will be okay, come on, don’t be a wuss! _

Lance showered, and started to get ready for work. He perfectly knew that, on a work day, Keith usually woke up at seven, so he refrained from calling him too early. He really wanted to his yet-to-become fiancé to be in a good mood.

Afterall, today was the day.

Lance smirked, looking at his reflection in the mirror, fixing his hair.

“Okay, dude, you can do this,” he said out loud, “just breathe and don’t fuck this up!”

The Cuban man stared at his reflection for a second, and sighed: he would’ve had to put a ton of concealer for those eyebags, but he also wanted to be _ au naturel _ for this occasion.

Lance shook his head, and took out the sheets of paper on which he’d written his proposal speech, reading it for the hundreth time in a week, quickly.

“So, ‘Keith, I need to tell you something’ bla bla bla, ‘when we were in space’ bla bla bla, then I kneel, ‘I love you so much’, mhmh, ring, kiss, and done!,” he said, “...hopefully” he muttered.

He checked his phone again: everybody was ready for the big day.

Lance had a plan for the night: Keith had invited him to a fancy restaurant, nothing unusual, but the ex Blue Paladin really wanted to do this his own, private way.

Therefore, he decided that he would’ve faked a sudden illness as soon as he’d arrived at the restaurant. He’d have asked Keith to go home, and Keith would’ve accepted, Lance knew that.

Coran had been asked to work as a chaperone for the night, driving the expensive,_ very expensive _ limousine that Lance had rented, and to take them at Lance’s place, where Hunk would’ve prepared exquisite dishes for them, leaving seconds before their arrival; Pidge would’ve set the right lights, hidden cameras to film the proposal, _ not in the bedroom, you freak!, _ and music playlist that would start on its own as soon as Keith would’ve stepped in; last but not least, Shiro and Curtis had the duty to take care of Kosmo, pretending that they needed the wolf with them because they’d heard voices outside at night and wanted to scare the strangers away.

He’d offered everybody a compensation, because he hated asking people to help him, but he needed it this time. Of course, nobody wanted it. They only asked to see the videotape of Keith’s reaction to the proposal.

They seemed so excited that Lance had cried in front of them,

_ “You guys really care for me, don’t you..?” he sniffled, effortlessly drying his tears. _

_ “Of course we do, buddy!” Hunk smiled soflty. _

_ “You and Keith are family to us all” Pidge added; “But if you ever hurt Keith, you’re dead...” Shiro joked, being scolded by Curtis. _

_ “Good luck, Lance, we believe in you” Coran chirped out, patting the boy’s shoulder. _

He smiled at the memory.

It hadn’t been so easy before. After he’d discovered that he was bisexual, he had trouble getting his life together.

He didn’t want to tell anybody about it, and hid it by flirting shamelessly with Allura.

He liked her a lot at first, to be honest, but she kept refusing his advances, and he grew more and more tired of it. He knew and respected the fact that he couldn’t force someone to like him, so he dropped the act.

After a while, he started dating Keith, in secret.

He didn’t want anybody to know, not even Shiro, or, well, Kuron. Especially him.

Lance feared for his life every time he had to be in the same place as that monster. He’d get yelled at by Kuron for anything, being handled all the responsibilities.

He’d hit him too, once. Or more. 

But Lance never spoke about it.

_ “If- if he finds out I’m dating you, I’m d-dead!” Lance had told Keith in tears, when he proposed to inform the others, “please, please, please K-Keith, just d-don’t...” _

_ The Japanese boy agreed- even if he had no idea of why Shiro would’ve done something to Lance if he was dating him; he just decided to drop the matter, and enjoy the moments they had. _

They didn’t speak of their relationship to the others for months.

It wasn’t until Shiro’s resurrection- Keith hated when the Cuban boy called it that- that Lance had time to think. 

When Shiro apologized for what happened between Kuron and Lance, he also mentioned Adam.

Lance, of course, remained speechless.

_ ‘Shiro’s gay? Like, openly gay? And nobody knew..? But Keith used to live with him and- Shit, so Keith knew about Shiro..? So Shiro isn’t- He’d never do something to me if-’ _

_ “Lance,” Shiro interrupted his thoughts, “I can see you have something to say… Just do it, it’s nothing I can’t handle”._

_ Lance shook his head firmly, “No, no, you got me all wrong… Shiro, I… I’ve been, huh, dating Keith for a while… Four months in a week… I’m… I’m sorry!” he screamed, lowering his head. _

_ “Lance..,” Shiro’s features softened, as he tried to caress Lance’s back, but the boy instinctively flinched, raising his arms above his head. _

_ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m- I know you’re not him, I’m sorry, it’s-” _

_ “Lance, breathe,” Shiro ordered, voice firm but soft, “I’m not mad at all, no, I’m very happy for you and Keith” he said, smiling. _

_ “R-really?” Lance stuttered, receiving an energic nod as answer. _

_ They stayed quite for a while. _

_ “Lance,” the older boy called, startling the other, “did I… Did he hurt you?” he asked, and his heart stopped. _

Lance shook his head, physically, trying to avoid that memory.

_ Focus on today, Lance! _

He sighed, looking at his phone once again.

In less than fourteen hours, he’d be an engaged man.

_ Hopefully… _

Lance mentally patted himself on the shoulder, _ you outdid yourself, amigo, you’re gonna be great! _

This was going to work, he knew that. He’d been planning this night for a month already, in order to have the perfect date.

The man put his stuff away- the cleaning lady he’d hired for the day would’ve been there soon- and only left out the ring he’d bought for Keith.

It was simple, just like Keith would’ve liked it: a thin gold loop, with a black inscription inside, ‘unforgettably yours, forever’_ . _

He smiled. Lance didn’t completely lie when he said that he didn’t remember the bonding moment; he remembered parts of it, but he was too embarassed to admit that at this point.

As he was about to leave the house, he decided that he needed to hear Keith, it was mandatory. He quickly selected the contact and waited.

Strangely enough, Keith picked up immediately.

“Morning, mi amor” Lance chirped out, sincerily excited.

_ “Hi babe, did you sleep well?” _ Keith asked, voice unnaturally anxious.

Lance’s eyebrows furrowed, but he kept going, “yeah, but sleeping alone in a bed for two is kinda sad, y’know...” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

_ “Tell me about it..,” _ Keith said, tone implying things that made Lance’s head spin at the thought, _ “so… Excited for tonight?” _

“What for?” 

_ “Lance-” _

He snorted, “I’m kidding, baby! 7pm at ‘La rosa blu’, right?”

Lance could picture Keith shaking his head, _ “you jerk, I thought you’d forgotten for real..,” _ Keith sighed loudly, _ “by the way, yeah, that’s right. You sure you don’t want me to come pick you up?” _

“Nah babe, don’t worry… I gotta go now, see you later and have fun!” he replied, smirking off his face.

_ “Bye babe, you too”. _

Lance sent him some kisses, and hung up.

He jumped, excitement overcoming, “you are gonna be mine-!” Lance sang under his breath, wiggling his ass and hands to make it look like some sort of victory dance.

After a couple of minutes spent recollecting himself, the cleaning lady showed up, and he left for work.

-

As he came back, only a hour before the date, his phone buzzed again.

“Hello?”

_ “Hi, it’s Shiro. There has been a… Convenient inconvenience, let’s say...” _

“What..,” Lance paled, “what happened!?”

_ “Keith is bringing me Kosmo, but not because I asked for it. I think he wants his house to be empty for after the dinner” _

“Wait, wait a second, so you think Keith’s planning something..?”

_ “I don’t know- is your sister allergic to fur?” _

Lance was officially confused now, “what the f- no, no she is not, and, why are you asking me that now..?”

_ “Mh, nevermind then… I think he organized a, huh, sexy hot night for you two… Is the plan still-” _

“Yes, yes it is!,” Lance sighed, “I’ll find a way to convince him to come to my place… Hunk and Pidge texted me earlier and they’re already in position, I just need to warn them a couple of minutes before my arrival… When Keith arrives, just...” he stopped to think, “compliment his suit or something, don’t spill the secret, I know how you are!”

_ “This is a very bad gay stereotype...” _ Shiro said, sounding offended and amused at the same time.

“Ugh, please Shiro, for once trust me” 

_ “Alright, alright, Lance, don’t worry… Keith will be here soon, so hurry up and go get ready!” _

“Thank you, I love you!”

_“It was Curtis’ idea to warn you-”_

“I love Curtis more, then! Bye, thanks again!” Lance quickly hung up, and dashed to the shower.

-

After twenty minutes, Lance was almost ready.

He glanced at his reflection: the grey suit and pants he’d picked for the night made his blue eyes shine brighter, and the cream shirt made his skin appear flawless and delicate. He combed his hair back, curling the two short sideburns that Keith loved so much.

After spraying himself with his favourite perfume, he looked at the time. The place Keith had picked was fifteen minutes away by car, so he still had about fifteen minutes to get ready.

_ Final rehearsal..? Yeah. _

He cleared his throat, ready to start, but his phone buzzed again.

_ “Hello, this is Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe of Altea speaking” _

Lance rolled his eyes, anxious but a bit amused, 

“There’s no need to say all of that, I know it’s you… What’s wrong?”

_ “There’s a lot of traffic here, I am afraid I might not be able to take you to the restaurant in time…” _

“I- okay, okay no problem...”, _ fuck _, that was a problem!

_ “I’m so sorry, there was a car accident and now it’s all-” _

Lance smiled, pinching the bridge of his nose, 

“Coran, it’s okay, I promise… Do you think they’ll clear the streets in time for you to come pick us up? In about forty minutes?”

_ “Yes, I believe so!” _

“Thank you, man, drive safe!” that said, he hung up.

Lance cursed under his breath; he wasn’t mad at Coran, not at all. He was just scared, because he couldn’t rehearse his speech anymore. He only had twenty five minutes to get to the restaurant- Keith was probably already waiting for him- and if he didn’t leave soon, he’d be late. 

He texted Hunk and Pidge, telling them that he left his keys under the doormat, and that they could come over with the material. 

When they respectively replied “Roger that!” and “Be there soon”, Lance picked the ring up, and left.

He was already halfway through when he realized that he didn’t even have his phone and wallet with him.

_ Well, fuck it I say _ he thought, cursing his back luck, _ no problem, you’re still on time, and the place isn’t too far, it’ll be okay. _

Before he had the time to realize what was happening, he found himself on the rough, smelly asphalt.

_ Or... not. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger, yeah, why not...?  
I'll update soon, I feel like I'm going to finish this before the weekend ends!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Oh boy!  
Also, you may have noticed that I previously said, "Oh, this is going to be 4 chapters long!"... Well, I lied, it's gonna be five, yay.

Keith glanced at his phone again and sighed. Lance was already ten minutes late.

The Japanese man desperately wanted to call him, but he was probably driving, and he didn’t want to put him in danger; he drank another glass of water, and waited.

-

Ten minutes later, the waiter asked if everything was okay. It wasn’t. 

Keith shook his head and apologized, mortified, 

“Excuse me, I need to get some air”.

He breathed deeply, trying to regain some composure. Only then Keith noticed that he was shaking.

-

He got inside fifteen minutes later, and Lance still wasn’t there. 

At this point, Keith didn’t even know what to think anymore. 

He reached for his phone, and called Lance.

_ “Hi, this is Lance,” _

“Babe, where-!”

_ “I can’t pick up now; leave a message and I’ll call you later!” _

_ Well, shit. _

The Japanese man stared at the adress book, and pressed on Shiro’s contact fiercely.

_ “Keith, buddy, how’s it going?” _ Shiro asked, happily.

“Shiro, is Lance there-?”

The older man’s blood froze.

Keith heard him muttering something to Curtis, but he couldn’t quite understand what he was saying.

_ “No, Keith, he isn’t here… What’s going on?” _

“Shiro, I- I don’t know, he won’t pick up the damn phone and- I don’t know, Shiro, I’m worried” Keith said, passing a hand through his hair.

_ “Alright, go to Lance’s place, I’ll go to yours, okay? Keep me updated” _ Shiro hung up.

-

“Curtis, I need to watch Kosmo for me” he told his husband while putting his shoes on- even if he already was in his pajamas- “something happened”.

“The proposal didn’t go well..?” Curtis asked, standing up from the couch he was on, “are the guys okay?”

“I don’t know, apparently Lance didn’t show up. He was supposed to be there with Keith almost forty minutes ago, but he won’t even pick up the phone..,” Shiro said grimly, putting his coat on.

“Do you think he panicked?”

”Maybe, but… He’d never leave Keith without a goodbye”

“That’s true… Let me know if you find him" Curtis said, “I’ll stay here in case of emergency”

Shiro smiled, “Thank you”.

They kissed, and Shiro left in a hurry.

-

Keith drove responsibly, even if every single nerve of his wanted to just slam the foot on the gas pedal.

He got to Lance’s place in less than fifteen minutes; he knew the building’s entrance gate had been broken for some days- thank God they hadn’t fixed it yet- and quickly ran up the staris.

As he reached the third floor, where Lance lived, he checked for the key under the doormat, but couldn’t find it.

_ Fuck… Fuck! _

The Japanese man pressed his forehead on Lance’s door. 

A small tear of rage escaped his purple eyes, but as he was about to give up, he heard voices inside. And none of them belonged to Lance.

His eyes widened, and he immediately banged on the door, taking out his pocket knife.

No, he didn’t have it with him, he just always left one in the car in case of emergency.

“Open the door, right now!” he yelled, not even sure why.

Keith clearly heard scrambled noises, and as the door opened, he threw himself at the person before him.

All he saw was red. He distantly heard familiar voices, and snapped back into focus a moment later, looking at the person he’d caught.

Keith’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“...Hunk!?” he stuttered, as he found himself towering the Samoan man, “what..?”.

“Lance, damn it, why didn’t he warn us..!” Pidge screamed from the other room, running to the entrance. As they witnessed the scene before their eyes, they dropped the remote.

“...Pidge? A little help?” Hunk said, raising his eyebrows pleadingly.

“Keith, what the hell are you doing? Put the knife down, now” they screamed, not really angry, but just deeply concerned.

“I’m-” he let the knife fall and stood up, “I’m sorry, Hunk, I’m- what- what’s going on..?” he asked, still in shock.

Hunk shook his head, “Lance is going to kill us… But it’s his fault, partly, so maybe he’ll do it gently” he said, jokingly.

“Keith,” Pidge called, helping Hunk up, “we can’t tell you!”

“Is… Is Lance here?” Keith asked, almost ignoring the them, looking around and trembling.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged confused looks, 

“Isn’t he with you?” they asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hunk approached Keith, “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“I-” Keith said, swallowing the lump in his throat, “I can’t find Lance anywhere”

Pidge’s heart skipped a beat, “He didn’t show up..?”

“You guys knew we had a date..? I didn’t know he kept you updated like this..,” he thought outloud.

“It’s not like he does, usually… Just for… Uh...” Hunk stuttered, 

“Special occasions” Pidge filled in.

Keith’s face screw up in confusion; he didn’t understand. What special occasion? 

_ Oh. _

Keith sighed, “what gave it away?” he asked, sad.

“Excuse me?” Pidge asked, confused.

“Was it so obvious? I mean, I threw every receipt related to this away, I cancelled texts and all...”

“Keith, what are you saying?”

“...Aren’t you talking about the proposal?” he asked, shrugging.

Hunk almost choked on his saliva, and Pidge put their hands in their hair, 

“Lance’s gonna be so mad when he finds out that you know about the proposal! Was it us-? Or Coran? No, I bet it was Shiro, he can’t keep secrets at all!”.

Keith shook his head, tilting it, “What-? Guys, I- I organized the proposal, so, yeah, I-” and then, it clicked.

His heart fluttered, and he leaned on the wall next to him, 

“Was… Was Lance going to propose..?”.

_ Oh my God..! _

“I can’t believe it..,” Hunk whispered, “were… Were you going to propose tonight too!?”.

Keith nodded. He was at a loss of words.

“I guess he would’ve said yes, at least,” he whispered, looking at his shoes, “if he’d showed up, I mean…”.

“Keith, what are you talking about? He left his house about a hour and twenty minutes ago to come to you, we’re sure of it!,” Pidge said, getting their phone out, “look, he texted us at 6.37pm, saying that he was leaving and that we could come and get everything ready, and now it’s already 7.52pm...”.

Keith’s mind was fuzzy now,

_ Why did he leave so early? It only takes 15 minutes by car at most… And… Get what ready? _

“I- I need to sit down for a second...” Keith announced, and Hunk immediately drove him to the couch, and returned a moment later with a glass of water for his friend.

“So you’re telling me that he was going to propose here, and asked you two to help with, huh, food and music, I assume?,” Keith said, looking around and sipping some water, “wow… He’d planned this through”.

“He didn’t only ask Pidge and I..,” Hunk begun, “Shiro had to find an excuse to steal Kosmo from you and Coran had to drive you back home in a super cool limo”.

“Seriously!?”

“Yeah, he’s been planning this for months,” Pidge sighed, smiling, “you’re a lucky man”.

“Yeah, I am,” Keith simply replied, smiling softly at the thought.

He still had so, so many questions, but decided to save them for later.

In that moment, his phone buzzed, and he took the call at the speed of light, 

“Lance?”

“_N-no, it’s Shiro,” _ the voice on the other end said, _ “did you find Lance?” _

Keith winced, “no, and neither did you, right?”

_ “I’m sorry Keith, I looked everywhere around and asked your neighbours too. Nothing” _ he sighed, _ “Curtis texted me a couple of minutes ago and told me that Lance isn’t at our place either. I picked him and Kosmo up, and I’m coming to Lance’s place now, I should be there shortly” _

“Okay...”

_ “Are Pidge and Hunk with you?” _

“Yes,” Keith breathed out.

“Did they tell you anything..?”

Keith huffed a half laugh, “sort of..!”

_ “Sorry buddy, this had to be a big surprise..,” _ Shiro sighed, _ “I’ll be there soon, kiddo, hang on”. _

As Keith ended the call, his phone buzzed again, 

“...Coran?” 

Pidge and Hunk cringed: it was all ruined now.

_ “Hello, Keith, I’m sorry but-” _ he stuttered, _ “well, you see, Lance wanted to do a thing tonight, and- huh- well, he, huh-” _

“I already know, Coran,” Keith said, almost amused now, but still anxious, “is… is he with you?”

_ “No, that’s the problem. I’ve been outside the restaurant for almost half a hour and according to the plans, you should have been already on your way out. I discretely texted Lance, repeatedly, but he didn’t answer,” _ he muttered, _ “so I entered the place but neither of you was there, and I got worried!” _

“What did he ask you to do? What was the plan he had in mind?”

_ “Lance was going to fake an illness, and with that excuse, you two would’ve stepped out of the restaurant where I would have been waiting for you with the limo he rented, to take you to his place” _ he said, _ “sorry, it was supposed to be a secret”. _

Keith facepalmed, running the hand from his forehead to his mullet, caressing it in the attempt of getting some comfort, “It’s fine, Coran, I appreciate it anyway, a lot… Why don’t you come at Lance’s place? We’re all here, I can offer you something to drink and eat to make amend for the time you wast-”

_ “Don’t you dare saying that, Keith! Finding Lance and helping you two is never a waste of time. I’ll be there soon, and we’ll think of something, all together” _

Keith smiled and teared up a bit, “Okay… Thank you...”.

-

Less than twenty minutes later, they were all at Lance’s place, gathered in the living room.

“I don’t know what to do-” Keith said, panicked, “maybe I said something wrong? I acted dismissive so he changed his mind? I don’t-” Keith sobbed, “this is a nightmare!”.

“He can’t be far,” Pidge muttered, earning a stern look from Hunk, “no, I don’t want to treat him like a criminal or a lost pet, just..,” they picked their phone up and started typing, “he must still be in this state” they said.

“That doesn’t help much- He could’ve taken a plane or-” Curtis started, “no, wait, today pilots were on a strike, and so were conductors and bus drivers… He must be still here”.

“We’re idiots!,” Hunk exclaimed, shooting up, “we didn’t check where his car is!”

“Hunk, you’re a fricking genius,” Shiro exclaimed, “Keith?”

“Box near the entrance, keys with Vancouver’s keychain!,” he yelled, getting up, “I’ll call his family and ask if they heard of him” Keith said, and Shiro bolted to the garage.

-

Five minutes later, they now had the confirmation that Lance wasn’t with his family, and that his car was still parked in his private garage.

“Quiznak,” Coran mumbled, “there’s something we’re not seeing, here...”

“But we checked everywhere, and everything,” Curties replied, “nobody has heard of him after you two” he added, looking at Pidge and Hunk.

“So, he’s been missing for two hours..,” Pidge murmured, “that’s… That’s not a good sign”

“Maybe he went for a walk..?,” Hunk offered weakly, “he loves wandering around at night...”.

Coran just stared at his hands, “I was supposed to pick him up from his place and take him to the restaurant, but there was too much traffic and I couldn’t make it in time”.

“He probably took a taxi, right?” Shiro asked, “he didn’t… He didn’t go on foot, I hope”.

“Probably not,” Keith said firmly, “even if it’s sping, it’s still too chilly outside for Lance, he wouldn’t have decided to go on foot” he finished.

Pidge sighed, “excuse me” they said, leaving for the bathroom.

-

As they sat on the toilet, Pidge looked around, trying to find some clue.

_ This can’t be so hard, come on..! _

But they couldn’t find anything useful that could lead them to Lance.

Pidge approached the sink to was their hands, only to notice something dark, perfectly mimetized with the rug.

Air left their lungs at once: it was Lance’s wallet.

He’d left without his documents, without his credit card, without anything.

The ex Green Paladin picked it up and ran to the living room, frantic, 

“Guys! I found it! I found Lance’s wallet!” Pidge yelled, giving it to Keith.

He was pale now, trembling,

_ Lance left without it..? _

A horrible thought passed his mind.

“Guys,” he started, “what if-”

Hunk came back running from Lance’s room- nobody’d even noticed he’d left- panting,

“Shit!”

“Hunk, what is it!?” Shiro asked, frantic.

The Samoan man pulled a phone- _ Lance’s _, Keith recognized it- out of his pocket- ”this is why he wasn’t answering… He left this at home”

“So… He left with no documents and no phone, at night, when he was supposed to propose, and vanished..?,” Pidge reflected outloud, “it doesn’t make any sense!”

“Unless he didn’t do that on purpose...” Shiro whispered.

“He was in a hurry and he left them here. He didn’t have his wallet, so he didn’t take a taxi. He must’ve walked and...” Curtis stopped.

Keith felt adrenaline rushing through his veins, mixed with panic and anger. He quickly reached for his phone and searched for news of events recently happened in his area.

_ Please don’t be it, please don’t be it _, Keith mumbled, rapidly scrolling through “retired fireman saves cat from stray dog”, “old woman gets mugged but trips the criminal and sends him to jail”, “drunk driver hits unidentified pedestrian” and- 

_ Wait! _

Everything around him stopped. The Japanese man clicked on the article, and started reading it to the others as well,

“Around 6.45 this afternoon, a drunk man- 52 years old, the Autorities confirmed- hit a young man, unidentified, with his SUV. The man tried to escape, but crashed and got arrested by the Authorities immediately-” Keith stopped. He felt sick.

“Holy shit..,” Shiro mumbled, and took the phone from Keith’s shaking hands, while the others stared with wide, terrified eyes.

“The young victim is now recovered at the ‘Union Recovery Hospital’ in the ICU. The case is still classified. The doctors and police are now looking for the boy’s acquaintances. This is the information we’ve been given” the article ended, followed by a list of physical traits.

Shiro read, breathless, as every single detail confirmed what they all dreader the worst. 

Dark olive complexion, short brown hair, blue eyes, about 5ft8, between the age of 20 and 25. 

Keith’s head spun, and he didn’t even realize that someone’d pulled him up on his feet.

“...th? Keith, breathe, please” Hunk said, caressing the man’s back, “we’re going to see Lance, he’s fine, I promise, the article said he is, and I’m sure it’s true, come on..!” he kept going, leading Keith to the door.

He held his breath through the whole trip, silent and filled with anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter's gonna be LANGST-Y af.  
I'll write it and update it tomorrow (I'm on a roll!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm so sorry for the delay.  
I've been sick and also started uni, so I haven't had much time to do anything.  
Forgive me, I hope this is somewhat good

_ (two hours earlier) _

“Alright, McClain, this is it,” Lance whispered to himself, “make those drama lessons count, amigo, it’s sick-boy time..!”.

He shuddered, walking in place and hoping for the traffic light to turn green soon, “Come on, come on, I don’t have the whole night!” he yelled, not noticing the couple passing behind him, who exchanged amused looks.

_ ‘Summer is coming’ my royal ass..,  _ he thought, _ caramba, it’s freezing out here! It won’t be hard to fake an illness... _

The Cuban man glanced at the traffic light, annoyed; a moment later- Lance thought it felt like an eternity- it finally turned green,

“Finalmente, ¡vamos!” he sighed in relief and stepped forward.

As he was crossing the road rather quickly, he found himself in the middle of the street, startled by the sound of a car doing a wheel spin, just next to him.

He turned rapidly toward the noise, freaked out by the fact that he didn’t even acknowledge the presence of the vehicle- the headlights weren’t on, he swore- and, before he could realize it, the car was racing towards his direction, a few meters from him.

Lance was paralyzed by fear.

He moved a few inches- on instinct- screaming.

_ Mierda mierda mierda I need to mo- _

Lance felt the air in his lungs knocked out of him, and as soon as he hit the asphalt again, after an instant where none of his body parts were on it, he blacked out.

-

Sharp, undescribable pain wrecked his body, as he didn’t bother to move.

“...r!? Sir!?”

“Call 911, he n...”

“Is… alive?”

“...be here in about 7..!”

The urgency in those unknown voices made him worry. 

Had something happened? Was everybody okay? How hadn’t he noticed?

“Hey...Awake? Hey, are… with me? Hello, stay…, understand?” a young woman asked from somewhere above him, voice way too loud for his already ringing hears.

He hazily cracked his fogged eyes, trying to focus,

_ Can you please tone it down..? _

Lance could vaguely distinguish the outline of a pair of trainers- _ hey, that’s the same model that Keith has bought last month…-  _ that quickly disappeared and got replaced by bare knees.

He gingerly looked up, wincing loudly at the flaring pain in his neck and ribs, noticing a man about his age crouching over next to him.

How tall was the guy, to be towering Lance like that? 

Lance didn’t know, really. He didn’t understand anything.

_ I’ll ask him later.., _ he noted to himself, letting his heavy eyelids fall once again.

Suddenly, he felt a painful pinch on his shoulder, and his pained eyes slowly opened, as he groaned loudly.

“St’p...” he whispered, and coughed immediately after.

Lance mentally noted how unusually wet and spluttering the noises he was making were.

“Shit, where’s that ambulance-!?” the woman from before yelled from somewhere.

The Cuban man blinked a couple of times, as he felt something hot and sticky on his chin.

_ Is that..? Oh. Oh! _

Blood. Crimson, fresh blood. He’d just coughed up blood.

_ Hostia puta..! _

Not only was he confused, but he was also scared now.

He didn’t realize he'd stopped breathing until his lungs started to burn, worsening the pain in his already hurting torso.

“Hey, breathe, everything will be alright, dude! In, out, in, out, come on...” the man instructed,    
“the ambulance will be here shortly, okay? Can you understand me?”.

Lance nodded, or attempeted to do so, as a jolt of pain spiked from his neck again and spred throughout his whole body, making him yelp loudly.

“Don’t move,” he heard someone else say, “just stay awake, okay?”.

Lance moaned, distraught and disoriented. Why was he there? He was sure he was walking a second ago… Walking to go somewhere. 

_ I don’t need an ambulance. Estoy bien. Why would I need an ambulance? Necesito ir a un sitio… Where, though? _

Probably noticing his questioning look, the guy who’d told him to stay put layed down next to him, onto the bare asphalt.

Only then, Lance noticed that he wasn’t standing; he was sprawled ungraciously on his side, arms limp in front of him, one leg stretched out- had his knee always bent that way? He couldn’t even feel it, though- and the other one with the knee against his own chest.

Panic settled in his stomach, and pain took over, making him yelp and groan.

Lance locked eyes with the man in front of him: his skin was dark and shiny, a spurt of gracious freckles on his delicate cheeckbones. The boy’s eyes were black and deep, filled with concern, but soft and welcoming, and his hair was short, dyed in dark red.

The Cuban man’s breath hitched, as he was abruptly brought back to reality by the intolerable heavyness in his rattling chest.

“Hey, hey, calm down!,” the man in front of him said, “it’s going to be fine, please, you have to remain calm, okay? You’re going to aggravate the damage if you keep moving like that”.

Lance blinked, panting, as even breathing too deeply hurt like hell.

“I’m Omarr, and the girl with me is my sister Aisha,” he said, pausing for the other girl to mutter ‘hello!’ from fomewhere behind him, “what’s your name?”.

Lance opened his mouth to speak, but as he tried to force those five letters out, his whole body shook, and he half cried half coughed, sputtering blood in front of him and on Omarr-  _ again! _ \- dirtying the guy’s jean jacket a bit, and completely ruining his own white shirt.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to talk, that was stupid..!” the man fretted, eyebrows furrowed in concern. 

Lance felt the girl-  _ ¿cuál era su nombre..?-  _ stroking his back gently and yelling at the nosey people who’d started to gather around the scene to stay back.

“Can I look for your documents? So that EMTs and police can help you,” Omarr asked, “we can contact someone too immediatelly after, alright man?”.

Lance moaned something that barely resembled a ‘yes’, and the Afro-American man searched his pockets, careful not to jostle Lance’s body, but came to the conclusion that he didn’t have anything with him, if not a small box.

“Do you know what happened?,” Omarr asked, taking the Cuban man’s hand “squeeze once for yes, twice for no”.

Lance stopped for a second to think: he was walking. He was also late for… 

He had to get somewhere important. 

_ What was it..? Espera un segundo, it’s on the tip of my tongue, te juro... _

“A piece of shit hit you with his car,” Omarr said, as Lance had stayed quiet for some instants now, “but the police started to chase him, hopefully they got him..,” he added, “are you alright? Can you feel everything in your body?”.

Lance, who honestly hadn’t heard a word the man had just said, stared at him with his dazed eyes. They widened in realization as he looked at the box that the man still held in his hands. 

_ ...Keith… Keith! The- the date! Y la propuesta de matrimonio... _

“I’ll put this back here,” Omarr said, noticing how upset he seemed about the object, and putting it Lance’s suit pocket, 

“Don’t move, the ambulance will be here shortly, any minute now”.

He tried to prop himself up,  _ I have to go..!  _ but firm, warm hands held him down.

Lance felt like vomiting. 

Everything hurt. 

He was so hot and cold and dizzy. 

Crying, that’s what he wanted to do now. 

Lance wanted cry and throw up what was bothering him, and wake up in Keith’s arms in his cozy apartment.

_ ¿Mi amor, me harías camomila y cookies? Por favor, me siento mal…  _

But the pain kept dragging him back to reality.

_ Por favor haz que pare..! Keith, please! _

A billion questions clouded his already fuzzy mind, and he allowed himself- more like was physically forced by his own wrecked body- to let his eyes slid close once again, heavy and sick, to the sound of people screaming out and sirens.

-

Lance jolted awake, screaming and kicking- sort of- as he felt hands all over his body.

He attemped to scream, but only horrible gurgling noises came out of his throat, as a bit of blood spilled from his parted lips.

“Sir, it’s going to be okay, we’re here to help,” a firm yet urgent voice said.

Someone put something around his neck and against his back, and he felt himself being lifted.

The dizziness aggravated, and he felt himself choking.

Someone started yelling something about a collapsed lung and a broken rib, but he didn’t hear all of it, already out.

-

He opened his eyes again, slowly, as he found himself inside some sort of truck.

Lance tried to look around, but his neck was stiff and held by something rigid, so he just let his clouded eyes wander.

His mouth and nose had been covered by an oxygen mask, and a thick bandage had been wrapped around his head, too tight for his already pained head- but necessary, as blood kept oozing from a deep wound on his temple.

“Hi, I’m Simona, and I’m here to help,” said a woman in her 50s in a bright red uniform, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and face marked by some faint wrinkles, 

“you were in a car accident, and we’re taking you to the nearest hospital. Are you following me?” she asked.

Lance blinked slowly, and the EMT took advantage of his consciousness to examine him better, 

“I need to flash this in your eyes, just for a moment. It will be a bit uncomfortable, but I’ll count to ten and it will be over, alright sweety?” she said, not really waiting for an answer, as she pointed a small flashlight to Lance’s pupils and, as promised, started counting- slowly, on purpose- out loud.

Simona smiled soflty to the boy, secured to the gurney, and turned to another EMT behind her, murmuring something.

“Are you up to answer some questions? It’ll be quick, I promise, and if it hurts, we can stop, okay?” she said, smiling kindly.

Lance blinked. He didn’t feel like doing anything now. His eyes hurt from the lights in the ambulance, the motion was making him dizzier and his head seemed to be about to split open.

”I need to touch you with this,” she said, showing him a small prick, “I need you to tell me if you can feel it, and be honest, okay? Nothing bad is going to happen, dear” she offered.

Lance nodded as much as the board strapped to his back allowed, and Simona proceeded with the examination.

Lance sighed in relief when he could feel every single time the EMT pricked at him- even if he was badly concussed, and self-conscious about that, he knew the dangers of paralysis.

“Very well, honey,” Simona said, smiling, “now, I know speaking his hard, so I won’t ask you to do that; but I’m going to point every letter at this board so that we can spell your name, okay? You don’t have any documents, so this is necessary..,” she sighed, “furthermore, the local reporters probably already asked the witnesses to describe you, so if someone’s looking for you, it won’t take long for them to find you”.

Lance cringed- pain, anxiety and embarassement mixing in a perfect cocktail of discomfort- and nodded.

“Can you show me with your hands how many letters does your given name have?”.

Lance painfully raised his hand a few inches, spreading all of the fingers as much as it could.

“Five, got it” Simona said, “Let’s start with ‘a’-”

“L-“ he coughed, “it’s La-” he croaked out, coughing again, and sputtering blood on the mask.

“Don’t talk!,” the EMT urged, readying a big needle,  _ holy shit, don’t come near me with that…, _ “I need to extract the blood that’s causing your chest to hurt and swell,” she warned, removing the mask and changing it with a new one, “are you with me? Buddy?”.

His chest seized as he gasped for breath, desperatedly.

Lance noticed the needle plunging in his chest-  _ take it out take it out take it out!- _ and struggled against the restraits.

His vision whitened, and his ears felt like he’d been listening to a metal concert for hours, standing right under the main speaker.

Simona’s calls fell on deaf ears, as Lance’s world tipped, knocking him out before he even realized it, blessed darkness welcoming him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should totally let this boy rest already... Soon.  
Sorry for the inaccurate medical stuff :(  
See you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's the longest of the series, and for a good reason!  
Also, Curtis literally has more lines in this chapter than in s8...  
Enjoy :)

Shiro drove to the hospital as fast as he could- he even ignored a couple of red lights, but it was safe, nobody was there, and Lance needed them- Pidge and Curtis in the backseat keeping Kosmo calm; the poor animal could totally sense his owner’s discomfort, and kept whimpering, unconsolable. They quickly dropped the wolf at a friend’s house, apologizing for the late hour and promising to explain later, and in a matter of minutes, they were on the way again.

The car behind them was Lance’s, that Coran had taken to drive Hunk and Keith to the hospital. 

The Japanese boy had glued his eyes on the dark streets- only dimly lit by the lampposts and car lights- since they’d got in the car, obviously panicking, and Hunk had tried so many times to keep him calm.

The problem was that Keith was rather unresponsive- Hunk wondered if he had to have him checked out too- and occasionally breathed in sharply and deeply, balancing out all the air he had lost by not breathing properly.

-

As they pulled over,  _ thank God the parking lots are empty..! _ Shiro had thought, they ran into the ER, Keith in front of them all.

“Where is he!?,” he asked, practically yelling at the man at the frontdesk, “I need to see him, now!”.

The nurse blinked rapidly, “Sir, calm down,” he said, “who are you looking for?” he asked, looking at the others that seemed equally distressed but less twitchy.

Pidge stepped forward, “About two hours ago, you brought in a John Doe,” she said, nodding at Shiro who passed her Lance’s ID, “coffee-coloured skin, 5ft9, blue eyes, turning 23 years old in a couple of months”.

Shiro showed the nurse Lance’s document, and the man immediately took it, “I need to contact the doctors and nurses in charge,” he said, quickly dialing a number on the landline; “we’ve found John Doe’s, huh,” he looked up at the group in confusion, “his friends are here, they brought his ID, I need you to send a nurse on the case here so that they can verify, right now”. He hummed as the other person on the phone said something, and hang up.

“Where’s Lance!?” Keith yelled, “I said I need to see him” he screamed, punching the desk.

“Another nurse will be here in a minute and will ask you to identify the man after taking care of some bureaucracy issues,” the nurse said calmly, “in the mean time, I need to ask you some questions,” he said, taking a clipboard out, “is any of you related to, huh,” he glanced at the ID “mister Lance McClain?”.

“I’m his boyfriend,” Keith said, “please, let me see him”.

“Okay, I need to have your documents please,” the nurse said, handing two different forms to Keith and a couple of pens, “fill them out with any necessary information that you know for sure on mr McClain,” he stopped them as they stepped towards the apposite tables, “if you’re not sure of some medical data, like blood-type or pre-existing conditions, do not write anything down, as that could only make things worse” he finished.

They all nodded, and rushed to the tables, as the other nurse arrived and started discussing with the man.

“Keith, give me the other form,” Coran asked, ”I know Lance’s medical data well, after all that time he spent in the pod,” he smiled, “quiznak, Allura was keeping count of those until...” he stopped and sighed, eyes grim.

They all lowered their gaze, as Shiro pressed a hand on the Altean man’s shoulder, “I know you miss her… We do too, but it’s not the same… I’m- I’m sorry” he said soflty.

“I just..,” Coran sniffled imperceptibly, “I do not want to lose Lance too. The boy always made Allura feel better, even when she was feeeling incredibly down, and he’s like a son to me. I cannot go through the loss of another one of you again” he finished, drying the tears that had escaped his heavenly deep blue eyes. 

Hunk hugged the man, and Pidge took his shaking hands, comforting him, while Shiro and Curtis stood next to Keith, who’d stopped writing to pay respect.

He missed Allura too, Shiro knew that. They all did. It hand’t been the same without her for these years.

-

About ten minutes later, the nurse from before called them, and introduced the group to a colleague of his: the girl was dressed in a blue scrub, short corvine hair held back by a white headband, her eyes green and thin, glasses in front of them.

“Hi, I’m one of the nurses on mr McClain’s case,” she said, smiling softly, “I know you filled all the forms in, and I’ve already handed them to my colleagues that will verify the information you’ve given us”.

“What happened to him..?” Pidge asked, feeling smaller than ever.

The nurse raised an eyebrow and looked at Keith, “do I have your permission to tell them too? These are classified information for now..,” she said, “sorry, it’s the procedure”.

Keith nodded, mumbling a faint ‘yes’, and the nurse started listing Lance’s injuries, occasionally reading from a chart in her hands.

“A drunk man hit mr McClain at about 50 miles per hour,” she started, “he substained a mild concussion due to the impact, then three of his ribs broke, puncturing his right lung and causing some more damage that resulted in internal bleeding. He’s got various scratches on his face, arms and legs, from when he skidded onto the asphalt, and his left kneecap and tibia got shattered in various points. He underwent surgery to drain the fluid in his middle, repair his ribs and lung and secure his knee temporarily,” she fixed her glasses on her nose “he’s scheduled to be operated to his injured leg tomorrow afternoon. We are monitoring the concussion, but it is not as alarming as it was when he first got here..,” she looked at her watch “two hours and a half ago. He’ll have to stay here for five days after the surgery, for further observation, and then he’s to get some bedrest for three more weeks. He can start physiotherapy next month”. 

The nurse raised her eyes, gaze soft, “I have the duty to inform you that when they brought the boy in, we weren’t sure if he would have made it, but now we are sure that he’s going to recover without further complications” she finished.

Hunk was shaking now, gripping Coran’s shirt for dear life, as the Altean man stared blankly at the medic, and Pidge had started to feel sick in their stomach.

Curtis was pinching the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut as horrible thoughts cloiuded his mind, and Shiro held Keith, who was trembling uncontrollably and gasping for air.

“I get that it’s a lot to take, and for it’s worth, I’m sorry that this happened,” the nurse offered, “I’ll give you a moment” she said, about to go away.

Keith stepped forward, ready to ask the same question he’d been yelling for the past fifteen minutes, but before he could open his mouth, the nurse interrupted him, 

“Yes, you may see him. Visiting time’s over, but given the circumstances I can give you about twenty minutes and find a place where you can spend the night, we have some empty rooms for visitors,” she looked at the others, and her gaze shifted to the Japanese man, “and you, mr Kogane, right?, may stay for the night if Lance agrees to that. He’s pretty out of it due to the anesthesia that hasn’t worn off yet and the pankilles we’ve given him, but I’m positive that he’ll be cognizant enough to talk a bit”.

Keith smiled slightly, and nodded, “Can you take us to Lance, please..?” he asked, feeling small.

The kind nurse nodded, and led them to the room where Lance’s cot had been placed, “Please, keep your voice down and if he asks for water, allow him to only take a few sips, we can’t have him throwing up as he may strain himself and tear stitches” she warned, “also, if something happens, press the red button behind the bed, and a nurse will be there in a matter of moments”. That said, she left.

Shiro placed his flesh hand on Keith’s trembling shoulder, and offered a warm smile, “Come on, Keith”.

The Japanese boy swallowed the lump in his throat, and stepped into the room.   
-

Lance’s room was dark and barely dimly lit, and the man was propped again a pile of rigid cushions, bandages on his head and a thin tube under his nose; many IVs had been inserted in his hands and crook of elbows- bags of blood, clear fluids and drugs attached to them- and his injured leg was out of the sheets, a couple of pillows below it, and held by restraints. An exagerate amout of wires was connected to Lance’s chest, as the EKG machine beeped rhytmically, and the hospital gown uncovered some bandages around the man’s torso and neck, around which a gray cervical collar had been wrapped tightly.

As soon as the Cuban man heard the sound of steps, his ocean eyes fluttered open, and he grinned, face tired but excited,

“Guys!,” he said happily, “how are you doing? I missed you all, mis amigos...”.

Keith was crying at this point, not even sure why. 

Lance was there. He was breathing, talking, smiling. He was alive.

The machines beeped in the right way, and his chest was rising up and down steadily.

_ He’s okay... _

The group ran around Lance’s bed, happy tears at the corner of their eyes, and Keith immediately stroke his boyfriends damp hair, whispering apologies and kissing him where he didn’t have any bandages on, 

“I’m here, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I’m late, forgive me, love, God, I’m sorry!” Keith said, fat tears rolling down his pale but relieved face, kissing the boy’s hand.

Lance just smiled sheepisly, murmuring softly, leaning into Keith’s touch.

He stopped a couple of times to breathe in- wincing in the process as hir ribs ached- but never stopping to stroke his man’s hair.

The Japanese man was almost hyperventilating now, and Curtis took the hint, fetching a chair near by, placing it near Lance’s bed and basically forcing Keith to sit on hit.

“Oh man, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Hunk said from the other side of the bed, squeezing Lance’s free hand.

Pidge propped themselves on the bed, careful to avoid touching IVs and all, “Dude, you scared the living crap out of us, oh my gosh!” they yelled, kissing their friend on the cheek.

“How are you feeling?,” Coran asked, “are you alright, Lance?”.

The Cuban man blinked a couple of times and sneered, “I’m fine, esta mierda es cojonuda, I can’t feel a thing” Lance murmured, dragging every vowel longer than needed, and laughed, as everybody exchanged confused looks.

Curtis smiled soflty, grabbing Shiro’s hand and sighing, “we’re glad you’re okay, Lance…”

“Yeah,” Shiro nodded, “you gave us quite a scare, buddy”.

“I’m fine, really,” Lance said, closing his eyes, dark eyebags and wrinkles circling them, “it’s not that bad” he reassured, pretty obviously lying.

“Lance, you’ve been run over by a car,” Hunk yelled, “that IS bad!”.

The Cuban man rolled his eyes, wincing as his headache got worse at that, “Nah man, it didn’t ran over me, it only hit me...”, he laughed, being the only one in the room to actually find that amusing at all.

Keith, who’d just regained his composure, stared at his boyfriend angrily, 

“Really? ‘Only’? What the fuck is wrong with you!?,” he snapped, shaking his head and getting up, chair falling back with a loud thud, “you don’t understand, you- Lance, you make me worry all the time and don’t even give a shit about it! What kind of selfish asshole are you exactly!?”.

Everyone stared at the man with wide eyes and mouths opened,

“Keith-” Coran tried, trying to reach the boy with his hand, only to be brutally interrupted, 

“No, no!, just save it, I don’t wanna hear that!”. 

Keith sighed, leaving the room in a hurry.

Everybody stared at the door, only to turn back again at Lance whimpers, “I… I fucked up, didn’t I? I guess..,” he lowered his gaze, blinking, and tears fell on his lap uncontrollably, “I guess the proposal’s officially cancelled, ahora y para siempre, huh?” he wondered out loud, drying his face effortlessly with his wrists.

“Buddy, no, hey, it’s okay..,” Shiro said calmly, gently stroking Lance’s arm as the boy tried to hold his tears back, “he’s just… He was very scared, Lance... And he wanted to-”.

Curtis interrupted the speech as he quickly placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder, shaking his head.

_ It’s not our call, Takashi... _

The older Japanese man nodded in understandement, and returned his gaze to his injured friend, “Curtis and I will go get Keith, okay?” he offered.

Lance simply nodded, pressing his shaking palms on his eyes.

Before the couple left, Shiro looked at Coran, who smiled, “I’ll stay here and look over him, go”.

Pidge hugged Lance softly, as the boy was now in the middle of a breakdown, “it’s okay, buddy, I got you,” they whispered, shushing him.

Hunk left briefly, returing in a couple of minutes later with a box of tissues he’d bought at the hospital’s store, “here, buddy, let me...” he said, gently drying Lance’s tears that, however, kept coming, his cries louder than before.

“I- I was so st-stupid, no debí decir e-eso,” Lance sobbed loudly, almost screaming now, “and I didn’t- didn’t move i-in time and-”

“Hush now,” Coran said quietly, stroking Lance’s hair, “this isn’t your fault at all, my boy...”.

The Cuban man rocked back and forth as much as he could, “K-Keith!, he hates me so m-much now, yo- yo estaba tan asustado...”.

Pidge looked at Hunk worriedly, mouthing ‘he’s hyperventilating!’, and Hunk briefly considered pushing the red button and calling for help: the boy was already having difficutlies breathing before the fight, now he was red in the face, desperately gasping for oxygen.

Lance was sucking in shallow breaths, wheezing, coughing up phlegm tinged in red occasionally.

“Dear, do you want us to call the nurse?” Coran asked, already approaching the button.

The boy rapidly shook his head as much as the collar allowed him to, as the EKG moitor beeped quickly- not enough to trigger the emergency signal for the nurses- and he sniffed loudly, inhaling sharply, Pidge rubbing his back soothingly and Hunk murmuring comforting words.

-

Shiro and Curtis found Keith not far from the room, on one of the balconies near by.

The man was staring at the crowded city below, as he quietly muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.

“Keith?,” Shiro called, as the Japanese man turned quickly and menaciously, “chill, it’s us..!”.

He breathed in, and his gaze softened, “Sorry...”.

Curtis stepped forward, leaving his husband behind, and hugged his younger friend, “It’s okay, Keith, we get that… It’s okay,” he said, caressing his corvine hair, “you shouldn’t be apologizing to us, though”

“Is- is Lance okay?,” the boy asked, frantic, eyes widening as the other two men exchanged sympathetic looks.

“He’s-” Shiro cleared his throat, “he’s... Miserable and hysterical now. He started crying seconds after you left. You really hurt him, Keith...” he said, stepping forward too and placing his flesh hand on the boy’s shoulder, “you know how he is, he has never cared much for himself, and when you said those thing...” the older man stopped, unsure.

Curtis shook his head slowly, “He’s not even himself right now, he’s high, wounded and emotionally compromised, you should’ve cut him some slack, man” he admitted, “we were all worried sick, and we all get that you have even more reasons than us to be upset about this whole thing, we get it, but… Lashing out was not the best solution, alright?” he finished.

Keith had never felt so ashamed before.

_ Turns out I am the selfish asshole… God, I fucked up. _

“I’m sorry,” the Japanese man said, tone grim, “I’ve been so stupid, I-” he stopped, sobbing and covering his shiny purple eyes with his hands.

Shiro and Curtis both hugged him- several inches taller than Keith- and sighed in relief.

“D-do you think he’ll want to see me again..?” Keith asked, voice small.

The men looked at each other, smiling softly and curving their eyebrow, “You should find that out for yourself, buddy”.

Keith nodded, walking toward Lance’s room again, and stopped on his tracks, “T-thanks guys, I… I needed to hear that... I’m sorry for everything” he said, and started walking again.

-

Lance’s breathing was almost back to normal, as Hunk guided him in the process, forcing the man to put his hand on the Samoan’s friend broad chest, “That’s it, breathe, I know it hurts, but you have to do it, alright?”

“We’re here for you,” Pidge said, carressing their friend’s other hand, “we all love you, you know?”

“Pensé que iba a morir, no podía moverme y-” Lance cried, and Hunk shushed him kindly.

“I didn’t quite catch that,” he said, “but it’s going to be okay now, we’re here, as Pidge said, and we’ll never leave you, man”.

Lance smiled briefly, still struggling to breathe properly, and squeezing Pidge’s small hand. 

“Ev- even Keith..?” he asked, eyes shining with tears.

Pidge nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes of course… He’s acted like a jerk but he loves you so, so much, I swear” they said, softly, skin crawling at the thought of keeping the secret of the proposal.

“¿De verdad?”

“Uh, yeah, I promise, he loves you more than you can imagine…”.

As they finished, Keith quietly stepped in, clearning his throat to announce his presence.

Lance slowly jerked back, leaning into Coran’s hug.

“I’m- I’m sorry, I can, huh, come back later if you want, or I could just, leave, forgive me-”

“Keith..,” Lance croaked out, voice hoarse, “p-please, stay” he pleaded.

Pidge, Hunk and Coran exchanged looks, and quickly hugged their injured friend before leaving.

“Keith, I’m s-”

“No, please, no… Don’t you dare to apologize, I was a complete jerk, I’m mortified… I acted stupidly, and I said things that I don’t even really believe, I swear” he said, approaching Lance’s bed and sitting on its edge.

“I’m sorry too, if only I’d moved-”

Keith laughed at that, shaking his head, baffled, “You can’t really be sorry because someone hit you with a car,” he said, “you couldn’t have done anything about it”

“Then,” Lance started, propping himself up again and yelping loudly, 

“Lance!”

“I’m, ngh, I’m okay,” he grunted, “I’m sorry I said those things, that was stupid”.

Keith intersecated his fingers with Lance’s, and locked eyes with him, “Lance, I’m the one who acted like a total jerk, you did nothing wrong, love”

“But only because I said those th-”

“No, no Lance, that doesn’t excuse me at all… What you said hurt me, yes, but I overreacted, it’s just...”

“You… You were scared,” Lance asked, smiling soflty, “right?”.

Keith sobbed, smiling through the pain, “That’s an understatement, babe, I was fucking terrified, I couldn’t even think straight, when you didn’t show up I thought I had made something bad, questions kept clouding my mind, and- and when we figured out what happened, I… I swear, things went black, I don’t even remember anything that happened from when I read the news to when I got in this room before” he shuddered, shaking.

Lance pulled his boyfriend into a hug, careful not to move too much, “It’s alright, cariño, I get that, I forgive you..!”.

“I’m so sorry, I just- after I lost dad, and then Allura, and-” Keith sobbed more, “I would’ve died if I had lost you, I swear”.

“I know, I know, babe, hey Keith, shh, it’s okay...” Lance soothed as the other boy rambled, “I really managed to ruin such an important night, huh..!” he added muttering.

Keith pulled back, and smiled, “Well, just so you know… Yes, Lance, yes I do”.

Lance gave him a confused look, and scratched his head, “Cariño, what are you talking about..?”.

Keith raised an eyebrow,  _ ah, shit, did I misread the situation..?,  _

“What are YOU talking about, Lance” Keith asked, playing dumb.

The Cuban boy looked at his boyfriend with a puzzled look, “Keith, honey, what-” and then, everything clicked.

“No… Keith, I can’t believe it..,” he sucked in a shuddering breath, “tell me it’s the drugs”.

Keith smiled, apologetic look in his eyes, “Sorry, they didn’t want to tell me, but given the circumstances...”.

Lance facepalmed, “Dios, all that work for nothing- Wait!,” he looked at the man before him, eyes comically wide, “did- did you just say ‘yes, I do’!?”.

The Japanese man smiled, blushing, “Precisely... And, one more thing,” he said, hopping off the bed and straightening up, Lance staring at him confusedly.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, and even if the situation may seem unideal, I need to come clean..,” he cleared his dry throat, “I’d prepared a speech but, honestly, I can’t remember it that much. Just… I know we haven’t always been in good terms- and I’m so sorry for that- but… But from the moment I set my eyes on yours, so deep and full of hope and strenght, I knew that we were destined to be together in a more intimate way…” Keith stuttered.

Lance held his breath, heart pounding in his chest and machines going crazy.

“We’ve only been dating for three months after that breakup that I regret more than anything ever, but I can’t wait any longer to do this… It takes only a moment to lose everything you love, and I can’t bare to lose the person that has given a meaning to life, being so selfless, kind, brilliant...”.

“Oh my God, cariño...” Lance whispered, shaking hands covering his agape mouth.

Keith slowly lowered himself to the ground, shaking with excitement, placing one knee on the cold hospital floor, and removing the box from the pocket it’d been into in the past hours.

“Lance McClain, I love you from the bottom of my soul, and I can’t stress enough how important you are to me. You’re the man who showed me that everything is possible, when you find the courage to overcome your insecurities, and also that opening up is okay, because love always finds its way… So” his throat constricted with happiness, and he breathed in deeply, “Lance, will you… Will you marry me?” he asked, tears pricking at the corner of his purple eyes, as he slowly opened the black box, revealing the stunning ring he’d chosen for his boyfriend.

The monitors were now going crazy, and Lance’s eyes were puffy and red, tears flowing from them like waterfalls, bright smile going from ear to ear, “Yes! Keith, yes, with all of my heart, yes I do, oh my God, yes!” he screamed, voice high-pitched, and Keith sighed in relief, quickly getting up and sliding the ring on Lance’s finger, hands of the two both shaking.

Before the two could seal the deal with a kiss, they heard cheering sounds from outside the opened door. 

They turned, to find their friends clapping, cheering and crying.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Hunk yelled, hugging Coran as the two jumped in syncro and smiled.

Pidge was crying loudly and clapping their tiny hands, “Congratulations, love you both so frickin’ much!” they sniffled, as Coran dried his tears, smiling.

“We’re so proud of you two,” Curtis said, drying a tear, “we wish you the best!”.

Shiro was crying, hand on his eyes, “Oh- oh my God, this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen, I’m- I’m so happy” he yelled, melting into his husband’s hug.

The two bethroted men exchanged amused looks, blushing slightly, and Lance took advantage of the presence of his friends there.

“Where are my clothes?,” he asked frantic.

Pidge gasped, realizing what their friend needed, and ran away, only to come back a few seconds later with a small box.

“Thanks, buddy!,” Lance said, taking it in his hands.

“Wow, Lance-” Keith whispered.

“Buhp buhp buhp, my turn!” Lance said, amused.

His fiancé smiled soflty, and nodded, as the others stopped talking.

“So, Keith, I’m sorry if this is not as good as what you said, I’m- I’m kind of high right now,” he snorted, followed by the others, “I’ve been meaning to propose since our first day back in space… I know it may sound rushed, but when I met you, something in me broke. The crippling fear of loliness and future events dissappeared, replaced by a special kind of warmth and comfort… You complete me, with your self-confidence and bravery, and the sensation of safety I feel when I’m with you is something that I had never experienced before. You are what kept me going through all the bad things that happened in the past years, and even if we all agree that you’re pretty rough when you want to,” he looked at the others and then at Keith, raising an eyebrow amused and turning serious immediately after, “your soul is the kindest and purest of all. I’m ethernally grateful for what you’ve done and do for me, and I’m also very sorry because I can’t kneel now, but I’d like to pretend that I’m doing it..,” he shuddered, and opened the box, revealing the ring, “Keith Kogane, you’re the most important person in my life and without you, nothing would make sense. Keith, will you please do me the honor of becoming my husband?” he asked, smiling and still crying.

Obviously, Keith nodded, tears streaming down his face as well, “Yes, yes I do, again," he laughed, "Lance, gosh… I love you so much!”.

Lance put the ring on Keith’s thin finger, as the boy admired it smiling briefly, and returned his gaze to his fiancé.

The others loudly cheered again- the nurses where not going to be pleased- and the two boys finally melted into a soft, yet passionate kiss, taking each other’s faces delicately.

“I love you so much, baby” Keith sniffled, nose and cheeks red.

Lance’s smile widened, and he pleaced his forehead on his fiancé’s, 

“I love you too, Keith, till the end of the world”.

**fin.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!  
I'm glad that so many people liked this, and I look forward to writing more stories of this kind.  
As always, let me know your opinions and show some love for a poor, desperate girl that can't go to NYCC because she lives on the other side of the world, please.  
Love you all, stay updated, and thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this: let me know what you think with kudos, comments, anything..! Both here and/or on my tumblr, @theforgottendaydreamer.  
Thanks!


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